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65.  Essay  on  Literature  of  the  Mexico  War.     By  ^Y 

.  Lawson.     (Contains  list  of  books  printed  on  this  struile  )* 

N.  Y. :  Privately  printed   [li82] 


A  scarce  and  little  known  pamphlet. 


E  S  S  A  Y 


ON    THE 


LITER  AT  URE 


OF    THE 


MEXICAN  WAR 


W.^T7  LAWSON, 


PLASS  OF   '82,    pOLUMBIA   pOLLEGE,   J^EW  JORl 


W\3ev 


>Ua>^  V^>  1%"^^ 


ESSAY 


The  annexation  of  Texas  and  the  consequent  war  with  Mexico 
resulted  in  adding  to  the  United  States  eight  hundred  and 
eighty-six  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety  square  miles  of 
territory,  an  area  much  greater  than  all  that  is  comprised  in 
the  States  lying  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  almost  equal 
to  that  embraced  in  the  Louisiana  purchase  of  President  Jeffer- 
son from  Napoleon  the  First  in  1803.  The  events  of  the  war 
which  added  and  confirmed  to  the  Union  this  magnificent 
domain  have  been  obscured  by  the  magnitude  of  the  recent 
civil  war,  and  they  have  become  almost  as  remote  in  the 
popular  imagination  as  the  romantic  incidents  in  the  cam- 
paigns of  Cortez  in  the  sixteenth  century.  But  as  the  fires 
of  civil  strife  are  almost  dead,  and  peaceful  industries  are  de- 
veloping the  wonderful  resources  of  our  Mexican  acquisitions, 
new  interest  is  awakened  in  the  circumstances  of  the  conquest 
and  the  brilliant  military  achievements  that  attended  them. 
By  the  enterprise  of  our  own  people  millions  of  gold  and  silver 
have  been  added  to  the  world's  wealth  from  the  mines  and 
placers  of  California,  Arizona,  New  Mexico  and  Colorado,  and 
the  plains  of  Texas  are  teeming  with  countless  herds  for  the 
feeding  of  Europe.  A  new  but  peaceful  invasion  of  Mexico 
by  American  capital  has  been  begun,  which  arouses  fresh 
interest  in  its  history,  its  native  wealth,  and  its  destiny.  A 
railway  under  American  management  traverses  the  line  of 
Scott's  march  from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  capital  city,  another  will 
soon  pass  over  the  fields  made  immortal  by  Taylor  and  his 


handful  of  rough  and  ready  soldiers;  engineering  skill  pro- 
poses to  cross  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  with  an  iron  high- 
way for  the  transportation  of  ocean  vessels  from  the  Bay  of 
Campeachy  to  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  a  line  of 
railway  following  the  track  of  Doniphan's  march  will  soon 
reach  Chihuahua  in  its  progress  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  being 
built  with  a  rapidity  almost  equal  to  the  speed  of  his  little 
army  of«victorious  Missourians  who  first  marked  out  this  path- 
way of  improvement. 

The  time  has  not  yet  come  when  the  war  with  Mexico  can 
be  treated  with  the  philosophic  dignity  of  which  it  is  worthy, 
embellished  with  the  imagination  of  poetry,  and  its  events 
appropriated  by  the  historical  novelist.  Certain  it  is,  whether 
strange  or  not,  that  no  hand  has  been  put  forth  to  extract  the 
philosophy  of  its  history,  to  direct  our  opinions  of  its  events 
and  its  men,  to  trace  the  connections  of  its  causes  and  effects, 
and  to  draw  from  its  occurrences  and  results  general  lessons  of 
political  wisdom.  Almost  all  the  histories  and  sketches  of  it 
were  written  soon  after  its  close,  and  may  be  considered  almost 
contemporaneous  with  it,  when  the  authors  of  the  period  could 
not  avail  themselves  of  the  mass  of  material  which  time  has 
now  made  accessible.  The  party  passions  of  the  hour,  inten- 
sified by  the  slavery  struggle,  so  tinged  all  efforts  at  the  phil- 
osophical discussion  of  it  that  its  great,  enduring,  and  far-reach- 
ing consequences  were  not  foreseen,  much  less  appreciated,  and 
are  only  just  now  beginning  to  be  felt  under  the  influence  of 
the  material  development  of  the  vast  regions  that  were  added 
to  the  country  at  its  termination.  Numerous  books  have  been 
written  about  it,  many  of  which  will  have  some  value  to  him 
who  shall  in  the  future  assume  the  task  of  illustrating  this 
brilliant  period  of  American  history,  and  there  is  appended  to 
this  essay  a  list  of  those  volumes  which  have  been  examined 
and  seem  worthy  of  study.  So  little,  however,  is  the  history 
of  this  portion  of  the  nation's  life  appreciated  that  President 
Porter,  of  Yale  College,  in  the  list  of  historical  studies  in  his 


work  upon  ^'  Books  and  Reading"  omits  all  reference  to  works 
upon  the  Mexican  War,  and  gives  but  bare  mention  to  that 
valuable  authority  upon  the  subject,  "  Benton's  Thirty  Years 
View,"  a  work  of  which  William  Cullen  Bryant  has  said:  **Its 
^Miterary  execution,  the  simplicity  of  its  style,  and  the  unex- 
*^  ceptionable  taste  which  tempers  all  its  author's  allusions  to 
**  his  contemporaries  have  been  the  subjecit  of  universal  admira- 
"tion."  For  a  clear  and  dispassionate  discussion  of  the 
causes  of  the  war,  for  just  judgment  of  the  motives  of  the 
actors  in  it,  and  the  impartial  statements^  of  the  facts  that  are 
given,  Col.  Benton's  chapters  on  the  Mexican  War  cannot 
be  commended  too  highly  to  the  student  or  the  historian.  It 
is  worthy  of  mention  that  the  chapter  which  contains  his 
address  of  welcome  to  Doniphan  and  the  Missouri  Volunteers 
at  St.  Louis  on  their  return  from  the  war  is  a  masterpiece  of 
dignified  and  graphic  eloquence,  worthy  of  a  place  as  a  classic 
model,  and  calls  to  mind  the  days  when  Athens  witnessed  the 
most  splendid  exhibitions  of  oratory  the  world  has  ever  known. 
Since  most  of  the  histories  of  this  war  have  been  written  a 
valuable  addition  has  been  made  to  the  stores  of  knowledge  on 
the  subject  in  an  admirable  translation  by  Col.  Albert  E. 
Ramsey  of  a  Mexican  history  of  the  conflict,  which  has  been 
published  under  the  title,  ''  The  Other  Side." 

For  the  limited  purposes  of  this  essay  it  will  be  suflBcient  to 
select  for  rapid  review  those  volumes  which  are  esteemed  the 
best  types  of  all  that  has  been  written,  and  present  them  for 
consideration. 


THE  WAR  WITH  MEXICO.    By  R.  S.  Ripley,  Brevet-Major  in  the  United  States 
Army,  &c.    New  York.    1849.    2  vols.,  8vo. 

This  seems  by  all  odds  the  best  history  of  the  Mexican  War. 
As  a  military  history  it  is  almost  faultless,  and  will  probably 
remain  an  authority  upon  the  military  events  of  the  war  for  all 


time.  The  author,  who  was  born  in  Ohio,  graduated  from  the 
Military  Academy  in  1843.  His  regiment,  the  Second  Artillery, 
was  sent  to  the  Rio  Grande,  took  part  in  the  battles  around 
Monterey  in  September,  1846,  and  was  then  ordered  to  report 
to  Gen.  Scott.  In  the  reorganization  of  the  forces  he  became 
First  Lieutenant  of  the  Second  Artillery,  March  3,  1847. 
He  took  part  in  the  operations  which  ended  in  the  capitulation 
of  Vera  Cruz  and  the  occupation  of  that  port  by  the  Amer- 
ican Army,  (March  9  to  29,  1847,)  and  for  gallant  and  meri- 
torious conduct  in  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo  (April  17  and  18, 
1847,)  was  breveted  Captain.  When  Gen.  Scott  began  his 
final  movement  upon  the  City  of  Mexico  (Aug.  6,  1847) 
Ripley  was  assigned  to  duty  as  aide  to  Gen.  Pillow,  and 
was  with  that  General  in  the  battles  of  Contreras,  Cherubusco, 
and  Molino  del  Rey,  and  also  in  the  storming  of  Chapultepec, 
and  for  his  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  was  breveted 
Major  (Sept.  13, 1847).  He  was,  therefore,  an  actor  in  most  of 
the  scenes  which  he  describes,  and  held  towards  the  superior 
officers  of  the  Army  relations  which  enabled  him  to  com- 
prehend what  was  done. 

As  an  aide-de-camp  and  friend  of  Gen.  Pillow,  he  naturally 
sympathized  with  that  officer  in  the  unseemly  dissensions 
which  broke  out  between  Gen.  Scott  on  the  one  hand  and 
Gens.  Worth  and  Pillow  and  other  distinguished  officers  on  the 
other,  and  was  more  or  less  interested  in  the  protracted 
military  investigations  which  followed  the  war.  In  this  way 
he  made  the  military  history  of  the  war  a  careful  study,  and  he 
studied  not  only  carefully  but  intelligently.  His  military 
education,  his  actual  service  in  the  war,  his  taste  for  mili- 
tary studies,  the  position  which  he  held  on  Pillow's  staff, 
and  his  very  decided  ability  fitted  him  peculiarly  to  be  the 
military  historian  of  the  war.  In  order  to  write  his  history  he 
obtained  a  protracted  leave  of  absence,  and  devoted  himself 
faithfully  to  his  work.  That  he  was  prejudiced  against  both 
Gen.    Scott  and   Gen.    Taylor,  and   criticizes   both   of  these 


eminent  soldiers  too  severely,  and  very  unjustly,  is  true, 
but  he  tells  the  story  of  the  campaign  with  singular  fidelity 
and  in  a  masterly  way.  He  understood  what  was  done  and 
has  told  it  in  a  style  worthy  of  the  great  deeds  which  he 
narrates.  His  obstinate  temper,  his  prejudice,  and  his  con- 
tentious spirit  are  too  often  apparent,  but  we  pardon  them 
in  reading  his  luminous  account  of  the  many  intricate  move- 
ments of  the  troops,  and  the  wonderful  battles  which  were 
fought  in  the  Valley  of  Mexico.  However  unjust  his  criti- 
cisms, they  are  always  able  and  dignified,  and  compel  our 
respect. 

It  is  not  strange  that  he  did  not  appreciate  the  romantic  per- 
formances of  Kearney  and  Doniphan  and  Fremont,  for  he 
viewed  all  things  as  one  fresh  from  the  Military  Academy, 
where  are  taught  the  duties  of  a  soldier,  not  those  of  a 
statesman,  and  he  was  still  a  youth  of  26  when  he  wrote  his 
history.  He  could  sot  understand  the  meaning  of  Kearney's 
long  march  across  the  desert,  of  Doniphan's  wonderful  expe- 
dition, or  of  Fremont's  daring  exploits  and  strange  adventures. 
He  did  not  see  that  statesmen  had  duties  more  important  than 
those  of  the  soldier,  and  that  Doniphan  and  Kearney  and 
Fremont  were  adding  an  empire  to  the  Union,  while  Scott 
and  Taylor  were  covering  our  armies  with  undying  glory  and 
securing  the  possession  of  the  conquests  which  our  little  armies 
were  making  in  ]\"ew  Mexico  and  California. 

A  soldier  of  distinction,  (Stevens,)  in  reviewing  the  book, 
says:  **The  work  is  professedly  critical,  and  much  space  is 
*' devoted  to  the  discussion  of  the  political  and  military  move- 
"  ments  of  both  Mexico  and  the  United  States.  A  very  thorough 
"exposition  has  been  made  of  both  campaigns  and  of  battles. 
'*  The  style  is  decidedly  good.  His  view  of  the  origin  of  the  war 
**  is  eminently  just  and  told  in  sufficient  detail." 

Tlie  freedom  with  which  he,  a  mere  subaltern,  criticizes 
the  conduct  of  such  veterans  as  Scott  and  Taylor,  both  of 
them  his   superior   officers,  and   one  of  them   the  President 


8 

of  the  United  States  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army, 
is  remarkable. 

After  commenting  on  Taylor's  mistakes  at  Palo  Alto  and 
criticizing  severely  his  movement  upon  Monterey,  he  denounces 
his  generalship  in  that  battle  and  the  armistice  which  followed. 
As  to  Buena  Vista,  he  evidently  thinks  that  it  was  won  in  spite 
of  Taylor,  and  he  says  that  the  battle  was  saved  once  by  the 
brilliant  courage  and  hard  fighting  of  Davis's  Mississippi  regi- 
ment, and  again  by  the  timely  and  splendid  execution  of 
Bragg's  battery ;  that  Davis  suggested  his  own  movement, 
and  that  Bragg  moved  without  orders  in  the  direction  of  the 
plateau,  and  both  came  in  at  the  proper  hour,  and  were  both 
successful — giving  fresh  proof  of  the-* ^supremacy  of  fortune  in 
war." 

His  criticisms  of  Scott  are  intensely  bitter,  and  he  says  that 
the  first  great  cause  of  American  success  in  the  operations 
around  the  City  of  Mexico  lay  in  the  braveiy  and  courage  of 
the  army,  and  not  in  the  ability  and  skill  of  the  General-in- 
Chief,  who  (in  our  author's  opinion)  gave  more  attention  to 
politics  and  his  own  personal  position  than  to  the  operations 
of  the  war. 

Santa  Anna  is  skillfully  and  ably  portrayed,  and  appears  as 
the  most  remarkable  figure  on  either  side.  Eipley  charges  that 
Scott  was  successfully  duped  by  the  Mexican  from  the  outset 
of  his  movement  from  Puebla  till  the  capture  of  the  city. 

With  all  its  faults,  this  book  of  Ripley's  is  the  very  best 
history  of  the  war  with  Mexico  that  has  been  written,  and  it 
will  probably  always  remain  the  standard  military  history  of 
the  war,  as  Kinglake's  is  of  the  Crimean  contest,  and  N^ap- 
ier's  of  the  Peninsular  War — the  two  military  histories  of  sur- 
passing excellence.  Its  author,  who  is  still  alive  and  in  the 
perfection  of  his  powers,  ought  to  revise  it  by  the  light  of  sub- 
sequent events,  and  leave  it  to  his  country  as  an  imperishable 
record  of  the  most  glorious  war  which  the  Union  has  ever 
fought. 


9 

THE  MEXICAN  WAR  :  A  History  of  its  Origin,  with  a  detailed  Account  of  its 
Victories,  which  terminated  in  the  Surrender  of  the  Capital,  with  Official 
Despatches  of  the  Generals.  By  Edward  D.  Mansfield,  a  graduate  of  the 
United  States  Military  Academy.  Illustrated  with  Maps  and  Engravings. 
New  York.     1848.     12mo,  343  pages. 


This  author  was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1801.  His  father 
afterwards  became  the  first  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  at 
West  Point,  and  there  the  son  graduated  in  1819.  Declining 
a  commission  in  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  he  resumed  his  studies 
at  Princeton  and  graduated  there  in  1822.  He  then  pracficed 
Liw  in  Connecticut,  whence  he  removed  to  Cincinnati,  and 
practiced  law  there  till  1836,  when  he  abandoned  law  for 
literature. 

The  little  volume  before  us  gives  a  succinct  but  clear  account 
of  the  origin  of  the  war,  and  of  the  campaigns  under  Taylor 
and  Scott,  based  chiefly  upon  the  reports  of  those  officers  and 
other  official  documents.  It  must  be  remembered,  however, 
that  this,  and  indeed,  every  other  history  of  the  war,  was  pub- 
lished immediately  after  the  establishment  of  peace,  and  with- 
out that  knowledge  of  thousands  of  important  facts  which  have 
since  come  to  light  and  which  is  essential  to  a  correct  under- 
standing of  the  diplomatic,  political,  and  military  history  of 
that  period.  Therefore,  this,  like  all  other  histories  of  the 
war  written  about  that  time,  is  necessarily  imperfect  and  un- 
trustworthy. 

The  chief  defects  in  Mansfield's  book  spring  from  several 
facts.  1st.  He  was  vehemently  opposed  to  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  and  to  the  acquisition  of  territory.  2d.  He  was  a  warm 
partisan  of  Gen.  Scott,  whose  biographer  he  became.  3d.  His 
style  was  intensely  florid,  as  will  appear  from  the  last  para- 
graph of  his  book,  which  we  quote.  Speaking  of  the  United 
States  and  Mexico,  he  says:  " Egypt  and . her  millions,  with 
**the  famed  Valley  of  the  Nile,  fade  before  the  broad  magnifi- 
"cence,  the  mighty  growth,  of  those  American  empires.  Even 
^'  the  terrible  and  far-seeing  eagles  of  Eome  grow  dizzy  and  dim 


10 

"  in  their  sight  as  they  look  down  from  the  summits  of  history 
*'upon  these  continental  nations,  these  colossal  giants  of  the 
"  modern  world.  And  now  this  Spaniard  and  this  Northman 
*' meet  in  battle  panoply  in  this  valley  of  volcanoes,  by  the  an- 
"cient  groves  of  unknown  nations,  on  the  lava-covered  soil 
"  where  nature  once  poured  forth  her  awe-inspiring  flames  and 
"the  brave  Tlascalan  once  sung  of  glory  and  of  greatness. 
"Three  centuries  since,  these  warrior  nations  had  left  their 
"homes  beyond  the  wide  Atlantic;  two  thousand  miles  from 
"each  other  they  had  planted  the  seats  of  their  empire;  and 
"  now,  as  if  time,  in  the  moral  world,  had  completed  another 
"of  its  grand  revolutions,  they  have  met  in  mortal  conflict. 
"  Like  the  eagle  and  the  vulture,  who  long  had  pursued  differ- 
"ent  circles  in  the  heavens,  and  long  made  prey  of  the  weak 
"tenants  of  the  air,  their  circles  have  been  enlarged  till 
"  they  cross  each  other.  They  shriek  !  They  fight  !  The  vic- 
"  torious  eagle  bears  the  vulture  to  the  earth,  and  screams  forth 
"  through  the  clouds  his  triumphant  song  !  Has  the  bold  bird 
"received  no  wound?  Has  no  blood  tinged  the  feathers  of 
"  his  wing  ?  Is  there  no  secret  flow  of  life  from  the  portals  of 
"  his  heart  ?  Will  he  continue  to  look  with  unblenched  eye  on 
"the  blazing  glories  of  the  sun  ?" 


THE  WAR  BETWEEN  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  MEXICO.  Illustrated. 
Embracing  Pictorial  Drawings  of  all  the  Principal  Conflicts.  By  Carl  Nebel. 
Witha  Description  of  each  Battle  by  George  Wilkins  Kendall.  D.  Appleton 
&  Co.     New  York.    1851. 

This  is  a  large  royal  folio  volume,  with  twelve  full-page 
colored  lithographs,  speaking  of  which  the  author  and  the  artist 
say  that  "  no  country  can  claim  that  its  battles  have  been  illus- 
"trated  in  a  richer,  more  faithful,  or  more  costly  style  of  lithog- 
"raphy." 

The  author  of  this  book  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  but 
moved  to  New  Orleans  in  1835,  and  became  widely  known  as 


11 

the  editor  of  the  Picayune.  He  was  a  man  of  adventurous  dis- 
position and  decided  ability,  and  wrote  prior  to  the  war  several 
books  which  acquired  great  popularity.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
Mexican  A¥ar  he  volunteered  to  serve  on  the  staff  of  Gen  Tay- 
lor. He  was  with  that  officer  throughout  his  campaigns,  and 
afterwards  accompanied  Gen.  Scott's  column  on  its  march  to 
the  City  of  Mexico.  He  was  consequently  an  eye-witness  of 
the  scenes  which  he  describes.  His  descriptions  are  vivid  and 
real,  and  place  him  high  in  the  ranks  of  war  correspondents. 
His  book,  though  hardly  deserving  a  place  among  histories, 
will  always  be  a  rich  storehouse  from  which  historians  will 
gather  materials  for  their  more  pretentious  and  more  lasting 
works.  He  was  a  brilliant  correspondent,  and,  strange  to  say, 
a  truthful  story-teller. 

Mr.  Nebel's  illustrations  are  valuable  as  truthful  pictures  of 
the  costumes  of  the  contending  armies,  and  of  the  scenes 
w^hich  they  illustrate,  but,  like  all  battle  pictures,  they  are 
highly  imaginative. 


A  COMPLETE  HISTORY  OF  THE  MEXICAN  WAR-ITS  CAUSES,  CONDUCT 
AND  CONSEQUENCES:  Comprising  an  Account  of  the  various  Military  and 
Naval  Operations,  from  its  Commencement  to  the  Treaty  of  Peace.  Illustrated 
and  explained  by  Maps,  Plans  of  Battles,  Views  and  Portraits.  By  Nathan  C. 
Brooks,  A.  M.,  Member  of  the  Maryland  Historical  Society,  etc.  Philadelphia. 
1849,    8vo,  558  pages. 


This  handsome  volume  is  the  best  general  history  of  the 
Mexican  War,  far  better  than  any  of  them  with  the  exception 
of  Ripley's,  which  is  in  some  particulars,  and  especially  as  a 
military  history,  very  much  better  than  Brooks's  and  all  other 
liistories  of  this  war.  Mr.  Brooks,  brought  to  the  work  qual- 
ifications and  experience  which  fitted  him  particularly  to  write 
charmingly  the  story  of  a  romantic  war.  He  was  in  the  prime 
of  a  life  which  had  been  passed  among  books  ;  had  been  a 
teacher  and  journalist;  had  edited  gracefully  and  learnedly  a 


12 

series  of  Greek  and  Latin  classics;  was  a  student,  historian, 
and  poet.  His  judgment  was  impartial  and  his  taste  refined 
and  highly  cultivated.  He  was  a  believer  in  the  manifest  des- 
tiny of  his  country,  and  sympathized  .earnestly  with  those  who 
sought  to  benefit  mankind  by  enlarging  ^^  the  area  of  freedom." 
His  heart  was  with  the  armies  which  had  marched  towards  the 
**  Halls  of  the  Montezumas,"  and  he  studied  the  reports  of  their 
campaigns,  not  only  eagerly,  but  faithfully  and  intelligently 
— by  the  light  of  a  student's  knowledge  and  the  inspiration  of 
a  highly  poetic  fancy. 

Written  at  a  time  when  but  a  tithe  of  the  material  which 
now  awaits  the  historian's  plastic  hand  was  before  him  ;  when 
the  great  mass  of  state  papers,  memoirs  and  reminiscences 
which  disclose  the  truth  as  to  the  negotiations  which  preceded 
the  annexation  of  Texas  and  the  initiation  of  the  war,  as  well 
as  the  events  of  the  conflict  itself,  were  still  unpublished  and 
inaccessible  ;  when  absolutely  nothing  was  known  to  us  of  the 
negotiations  of  th^  Mexican  Government  except  through  its 
correspondence  with  ours,  and  when  nothing  had  been  ascer- 
tained of  its  military  operations  except  as  disclosed  upon  the 
.battlefield — it  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  Mr.  Brooks's  history 
is  characterized  as  being  more  interesting  and  attractive,  than 
accurate  and  instructive,  since  he  neither  fully  understood  the 
great  events  which  he  was  narrating  nor  foresaw  the  great  con- 
sequences which  were  to  flow  from  them;  nor,  moreover,  had 
he  learned  the  lessons  which  they  taught,  by  which  this  genera- 
tion will  profit. 

The  fault  which  we  find  with  his  book  is  one  common  to  all 
histories,  not  strictly  military,  which  treat  of  wars  that  have 
just  happened;  we  refer  to  its  extremely  prolix  descriptions 
of  battles.  The  reader,  however,  can  pass  over  such  parts  of 
these  as  do  not  interest  him,  and  will  lose  little  save  jthe 
noise  and  fury  of  the  fights  and  the  lurid  phrases  which  de- 
scribe them. 

The  most  felicitious  chapters  of  the  book  are  those  which  tell 


13. 

the  story  of  the  conquest  of  New  Mexico  and  California,  and 
of  Doniphan's  romantic  expedition.  To  tell  these  stories  well 
and  truly  the  historian  needed  all  iiis  poetic  fancy,  and  all  that 
rich  and  exuberant  diction  with  which  nature  and  study  had 
so  bountifully  endowed  him.  These  chapters  recall  the  pic- 
tured pages  of  Prescott,  and  are  not  unworthy  of  the  historian 
of  the  Conquest. 


PICTORIAL  HISTORY  OF  MEXICO  AND  THE  MEXICAN  WAR:  Comprising 
an  Account  of  the  Ancient  Aztec  Empire,  the  Conquest  by  Cortez,  Mexico  under 
the  Spaniards,  the  Mexican  Revolution,  the  Republic,  tlie  Texan  War,  and  the 
recent  War  with  the  United  States.  By  John  Frost,  L.L.D.,  author  of  the 
Pictorial  History  of  the  World,  etc.  Embellished  with  500  Engravings  of  W. 
Croome  and  other  distinguished  Artists.    8vo.    Philadelphia.    1856. 

Nearly  five  hundred  pages  of  this  volume  are  devoted  to 
the  Mexican  War.  The  author,  who  was  born  in  Maine  in 
1800,  studied  at  Bowdoin,  and  then  at  Harvard,  where  he 
graduated  in  1822.  He  then  taught  school,  first  at  Boston 
and  afterwards  at  Philadelphia,  till  1845.  After  that  time  he 
gave  himself  up  exclusively  to  the  compilation  of  his  many 
pictorial  histories,  all  of  which  achieved  great  popularity,  and 
deserved  it. 

His  intention  seemed  always  to  be  to  write  readable  and 
saleable  books.  To  do  this  he  was  well  fitted  by  his  predilec- 
tion for  historical  composition,  and  his  great  experience  as  a 
teacher.  His  style  was  natural  and  simple  and  perspicuous. 
The  arrangement  of  his  subject  was  orderly,  and  there  was  in 
his  grouping  of  facts  a  picturesqueness  which  was  somewhat 
fascinating  and  always  pleasing.  He  was  not  a  philosopher, 
or  an  erudite  historian,  nor  did  he  pretend  to  be  either — hence 
we  are  not  to  look  in  his  works  for  any  profound  thoughts,  or 
for  any  facts  which  are  not  the  common  property  of  every  one. 

He  had  no  prejudices,  no  enthusiasims,  no  theories  to  main- 
tain, no  heroes  to  exalt  and  magnify.  He  wrote  to  please  and 
to  sell — to  please  that  he  might  sell.     Taking  the  official 


14 

reports  of  battle  and  the  state  papers  at  Washington,  he  drew 
from  them  an  intelligible  statement  of  the  main  facts  which 
he  intended  to  narrate,  and  then,  with  good  taste  and  con- 
summate skill,  made  the  dry  details  interesting  and  indeed 
captivating  by  weaving  among  them  stories  of  American 
prowess,  and  such  heroic  deeds  and  patriotic  daring  as  were 
easily  found  in  the  letters  of  war  correspondents  and  hero- 
worshipers.  He  also  availed  himself  of  the  multitude  of 
memoirs  and  books  of  adventure  which  flooded  the  country 
immediately  after  the  war,  and  thus  made  his  book  partake  of 
that  patriotic  fervor  which  the  splendid  achievements  of  our 
troops  in  Mexico  had  kindled  in  the  heart  of  every  American. 
He  has  thrown  into  it  the  charm  that  lingers  in  the  wonderful 
stories  of  Herodotus.  Had  he  not  done  this,  his  book  would 
have  remained  unsold  on  the  shelves  of  his  publishers,  and 
would  not  have  taken  its  place  in  every  household  by  the  side 
of  Parson  Weem's  veracious  chronicles  and  "  The  Tales  of  a 
Grandfather. '' 

It  follows  from  what  has  been  said  that  Frost's  work  on  the 
Mexican  War  is  not  a  book  for  the  students  of  either  military 
or  diplomatic  history,  nor  for  those  who  wish  to  learn  the  true 
history  of  the  war,  or  the  real  truth  as  to  the  deeds  which  were 
then  done,  or,  as  to  the  men  who  did  them,  what  manner 
of  men  they  were,  and  what  their  motives,  nor,  lastly,  as  to  the 
mighty  results  of  the  contest.  Nevertheless,  it  is  a  good  book 
and  well  worth  a  reading  by  those  who  want  merely  an  intelli- 
gible and  interesting  account  of  the  events  which  it  narrates. 

It  would  hardly  be  fair  to  dismiss  the  book  without  referring 
to  the  500  engravings  wherewith  it  is  "embellished  from 
designs  of  W.  Croome  and  other  distinguished  artists"  whose 
invaluable  services  Mr.  Frost  gratefully  acknowledges.  They 
are  simply  wonderful.  We  open,  by  hazard,  at  page  458. 
Before  us  is  a  picture  of  Fremont  in  his  famous  ride  from  Los 
Angelos  "to  Monterey  and  back;  a  journey  of  more  than  800 
"miles,  performed  in  eight  days,  including  two  days' detention 


15 

''and  all  stoppages."  This  is  more  than  130  miles  in  a  day. 
Look  at  the  splendid  charger  whose  flowing  mane  and  mud- 
tossed  tail  and  flying  form  brings  to  mind  the  magic  horses  of 
the  "Arabian  Nights  "  !  See  how  he  skims  over  the  plains,  dis- 
daining to  touch  the  earth  with  his  hoofs  !  And  see  how  erect 
the  rider  sits  upon  his  flying  steed,  riding  night  and  day 
through  the  trackless  plains,  en  grande  tenue,  not  a  speck 
of  dirt  on  his  gold-embroidered,  epauletted  coat  of  blue  ;  not  a 
trace  of  the  soil  upon  his  immaculate  trousers;  not  a  sign  of 
fatigue  upon  the  earnest  face  which  the  three-cornered  hat  pro- 
tects from  sun  and  storm ;  nor  any  weariness  in  the  stalwart 
arm,  whose  gloved  hand  carries  a  naked  sword,  holding  it 
in  strict  conformity  to  Army  regulations  !  Look  and  wonder  ! 
Certainly,  this  is  further  beyond  our  criticism  than  are  the 
glowing  canvases  whereon  Horace  Vernet  has  immortalized  the 
fields  of  French  glory. 

The  literature  of  the  war,  as  has  been  before  remarked, 
is  devoid  of  any  novels  of  distinguished  merit,  and  has  not 
been  rich  in  poetic  inspiration.  But  during  the  period  jof  hos- 
tilities, and  amidst  the  political  excitement  that  followed,  James 
Russell  Lowell  began  in  a  leading  Boston  paper  a  series  of  politi- 
cal satires  on  the  war,  in  the  Yankee  dialect,  purporting  to  be 
written  by  Hosea  Biglow.  These  satires  were  afterwards  col- 
lected in  a  volume  with  Lowell's  works,  and  are  known  as  the 
''Biglow  Papers."  Their  wit  and  vigor  are  admirable.  The 
character  of  Parson  Wilbur,  to  whom  is  attributed  the  intro- 
duction, notes  and  index,  is  a  comic  creation  full  of  delight. 
The  whole  is  a  rare  repository  of  fun,  and  Hosea  is  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  native  humor  and  homely  mother  wit  of  the 
Yankee  race.  It  is  one  of  the  most  ingenious  and  well  sus- 
tained jeiix  (T esprit  in  existence.  It  is  perhaps  not  too  much 
to  say  that  it  is  the  best  burlesque  poem  that  has  appeared 
since  Samuel  Butler,  in  the  first  part  of  "  Hudibras,"  ridiculed 
the  austerities  of  the  Puritan  leaders  of  the  seventeenth  century 
with  his  shining  and  merciless  wit. 


10 

B}'  far  the  most  brilliant  poetic  production  of  the  period  is  the 
elegaic  ode,  by  Theodore  O'Hara,  a  poet,  soldier<  and  editor,  of 
Kentucky.  It  is  entitled  the  "Bivouac  of  the  Dead,"  and  had 
its  origin  in  the  occasion  of  the  interment,  at  Frankfort,  in 
1847,  of  the  gallant  soldiers  who  fell  in  battle.  It  is  noted  for 
its  rare  beauty  of  style,  its  genuine  pathos,  its  descriptive 
ideality,  its  heroic  vigor,  and  its  patriotic  fervor.  Genuine 
appreciation  and  candid  criticism  will  place  it  with  Wolfe's 
"Burial  of  Sir  John  Moore  "and  Collins's  "How  Sleep  the 
Brave,"  among  the  classic  lyric  gems  of  the  language.  Its  lines 
are  used  for  inscriptions  upon  the  tombs  of  heroes  all  over  the 
land,  and  one  of  its  immortal  stanzas  adorns  the  National 
Cemetery  at  Arlington  Heights.  It  goes  to  the  heart  of  every 
true  soldier,  and  is  likely  to  remain  enshrined  there  forever. 
Mention  must  also  be  made  of  the  adntiration  which  lingers 
about  the  pensive  beauty,  the  pathetic  grace,  and  the  vivid 
picture  of  Whittier's  "Angels  of  Buena* Vista." 

The  excitement  in  the  public  mind  occasioned  by  the  war 
caused  .many  remarkable  discussions,  and  the  pulpit  of  New 
England,  with  its  usual  disposition  to  intermeddle  in  political 
affairs,  was  not  tardy  in  presenting  its  opinions.  The  most 
distinguished  preacher  of  the  time,  Theodore  Parker,  in 
words  of  burning  eloquence  denounced  all  wars,  and  the 
injustice  of  this  one,  and  with  elaborate  figures  estimated  its 
cost  and  expenses  at  two  hundred  millions  of-  dollars,  and, 
weighing  this  sum  against  the  value  of  our  acquisition,  pro- 
nounced the  war  profitless,  and  asked,  contemptuously,  "What 
have  we  got  to  show  for  all  this  money  ?  " 

In  the  light  of  the  present  hour,  the  mere  beginning  that 
has  been  made  in  the  development  of  the  acquired  regions 
will  afford  a  partial  answer  to  illustrate  the  lack  of  historic 
prescience  that  blinded  the  perceptions  of  the  time.  The 
growth  of  these  new  countries  seems  to  point  to  a  period, 
not  far  distant,  when  they  shall  contain  a  population  as 
great  as  that  which  inhabits  the  Cis-Mississippi  States. 


11 

The  new  apportionment  bill  which  has  just  been  enacted 
gives  to  the  States  already  erected  in  this  region  almost  as 
many  Representatives  in  Congress  as  all  New  England,  and 
another  decade  will  show  that  it  has  passed  far  in  advance  in 
wealth  and  population.  California,  Arizona,  New  Mexico, 
Colorado,  and  TJtah  from  their  mines  alone  have  added 
more  than  two  thousand  millions  of  dollars  to  the  world's 
wealth,  and  are  now  yielding  more  than  one-third  of  the 
annual  product  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  entire  world. 
Two  Pacific  railways,  the  greatest  feats  of  modern  engineering, 
traA^ersing  the  regions  that  were  said  to  be  **  occupied  with 
broken  mountains  and  dreary  wilds,"  and  "fit  only  for  the 
restless  hunter  and  wandering  trapjjer,"  have  revolutionized 
the  commerce  of  the  world.  England  seeks  Australia  and 
New  Zealand  through  the  Grolden  Gate,  and  the  productions  of 
China  and  Japan  flow  to  our  magnificent  harbors  of  the 
Pacific  and  cross  the  American  continent  on  their  way  to 
supply  the  demands  of  Europe. 

The  archaeological  discoveries  in  these  regions  disclose  a  pre- 
historic occupancy  by  a  race  that  founded  great  cities  and  built 
palaces  and  temples,  and  who  shall  say,  that,  under  the 
dominion  of  the  Anglo  Saxon,  the  glories  of  their  antiquity 
may  not  be  surpassed  ?  Who  shall  say  what  mighty  results 
shall  flow  from  the  contest  which  began  when  Gen.  Taylor 
crossed  the  Nueces  in  the  march  to  the  Rio  Grande  ? 


LIST  OF  BOOKS  ON  THE  MEXICAN  WAB. 


BRACKETT,  A.  G. 

"Gen.  Lane's  Brigade  in  Central  Mexico."     Cincinnati.     1854 
1  vol.,  12mo. 

BROOKS,  KC. 

♦'History  of  the  Mexican  War."    8vo.     Baltimore.     1849. 

CARLETON,  J.  H. 

"  Battle  of  Buena  Vista."     16mo.     New  York.     1848. 

CUTTS,  J.  M. 

"Conquest  of  California   and  New  Mexico."    12mo.     Philadel- 
phia.    1847. 

EDWARDS,  F.  S. 

' '  Campaign  in  New  Mexico. "    12mo.     Philadelphia.     1847. 

FROST,  J. 

"Pictorial   History   of   Mexico  and  the  Mexican  War."      8vo. 
Philadelphia.     1856. 

GIDDINGS,  Major. 

"  Campaign  of  Northern  Mexico. "     13mo.     New  York.     1853. 

HENRY,  W.  S. 

' '  Campaign  Sketches  of  War  with  Mexico. "     1 2mo.     New  York. 

1847. 

HUGHES,  J.  T. 

"  Doniphan's  Expedition. "    13mo.     Cincinnati.     1848. 

JAY,  W. 

"  Causes  and  Consequences  of  the  Mexican  War."    12mo.     Bos- 
ton.    1949, 


20 

KENDALL,  G.  W. 

"Narrative  of  the  Texan  Santa  Fe  Expedition."     2  vols.,  12mo. 
New  York.     1847. 

KENDALL,  G.  W. 

"  The  War  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico."    Royal  folio. 

LIVERMORE,  N. 

"  War  with  Mexico  Reviewed. "    12mo.     Boston.     1850. 
New  York.     1851. 

MANSFIELD,  E.  D. 

"Life  and  Services  of  Gen.  Winfield  Scott."  12mo.    New  York. 
1852. 

MEYER,  BRANTZ. 

"Mexico."    2vols.,  8mo.     Hartford.     1853. 

RAMSEY,  A.  C. 

"The  Other  Side."     12mo.     New  York.     1852. 

REYNOLDS,  3.  G. 

"  Marine  Corps  in  Mexico."    8vo.     New  York.     1853. 

RICHARDSON,  W.  H. 

"Journal  of  a  Soldier  in  Mexico."     12nio.     Baltimore.     1848. 

RICHARDSON.  W.  H. 

"  Journal  with  Col.  Doniphan."     12mo.    Baltimore      1848. 

RIPLEY,  R.  S. 

"  War  with  Mexico."    2  vols..  8vo.     New  York.     1849. 

SCRIBNER.  B.  F. 

•  A  Campaign  in  Mexico."    8vo.     Philadelphia.     1850. 

SEMMES,  R 

"  Service  During  the  War. "    8vo.     Cincinnati.     1851. 

SEMMES,  R. 

"  Campaign  in  Mexico."     12mo.     Cincinnati.     1852. 

STEVENS,  J.  J. 

'  Campaigns  on  the  Rio  Grande  and  in   Mexico."    8vo.      New 
York.     1851. 

SIMPSON.  JAS.  H. 

"Journal  of  a    Military  Reconnoissance. "    8vo.     Philadelphia. 
1852. 


21 

THORPE,  T.  B 

•  Our  Army  ou  the  Rio  Graude."     l:imo.     Philadelphia.     1846. 

THORPE,  T.  B. 

•  Our  Army  at  Monterey."     12mo.     Philad'lphia.     184S. 

WILLARD,  E, 

"^ast  Leaves  of  American  History."     l2mo.     New  York.    1849. 

WOODWARD,  ASHBEL 

r  Life  of  General  N.  Lyon."    Hartford.     1862. 


SENIOR  CUSS  ESSAY,  1882, 


m 


